I only really know three things about I Decline and their EP called Life Of A Renegade
1. The band is made up of former members of Take It Back!.
2. It is an almost complete departure from the Take It Back! sound
3. It is amazing

If you are a fan of Advent, Converge, Reign Supreme, orJawbone, you will really be into this. Listen and download below

So, we are a week from leaving and I think I have finally nailed down my schedule for Cornerstone 2010. Here are few of the highlights that I’m going to see.

Monday: This is my only really slow day of the week, but as soon as camp is set up I’ll head out and see what new bands I can find. These are just the two I don’t want to miss!

Take It Back! – 10:30pm – Solace Stage:A post-hardcore band from Arkansas. This is a band you won’t want to miss. Although, if you can’t make it to this particular show they are playing a couple of more times during the week.

The Burial – 11:15pm – Raging Storm/Sancrosanct Stage:A deathcore band from South Bend, Indiana.If you are a fan of August Burns Red or Becoming the Archetype, then you’ll love The Burial.

Tuesday: And the craziness begins! For 12 hours I will be running from stage to stage trying not to miss anything. A lot of the bands this day are going to be my first time seeing them live.

Fire from the Gods/Let the Dead- 12:00pm – Legacy Stage:Two bands from deep in the heart of Texas, Austin! These bands will show you what Texas hardcore is all about.

Hand Drawn Mountains – 1:40pm – Chasing Canadia Stage: This will be my first time to see this band live.

Switchfoot- 8:00pm – Main Stage: We all know Switchfoot. I’ve never had the opportunity to see them live, so here’s my chance.

The Ember Days- 9:00pm – Solace Stage:A progressive worship band from New Zealand. Another band I have never seen live.

The Showdown- 11:00pm – Encore Stage: Hardcore/Classic Rock from the backwoods of Tennessee. These guys put on a phenomenal show. If you are a fan of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster or Becoming the Archetype, then don’t miss this show!

Wednesday: This will probably be my favorite day all week. All of my favorite bands play this day. I can’t Wait!

Bradley Hathaway – 3:30pm – Main Stage:A mix of spoken word and singing. Some of the most amazing stuff you’ll hear. He’s become kind of a staple at Cornerstone.

Levi the Poet- 4:30pm – Solace Stage: Spoken word with a mix of sporadic instruments. I have been waiting to see him play for quite some time now.

Listener – 6:00pm – Jesus Village: I’ve never seen him, but I’ve been listening to his stuff and I can’t wait! It’s going to be awesome!

mewithoutYou – 7:00pm – Main Stage:One of the most amazing bands ever! Another must see for Cornerstone.

Sleeping Giant- 10:50pm – Underground Stage: This band puts on one of the most moving, worship filled hardcore shows I have ever seen. If you go to this show you will be changed. You won’t be able to stop it! It cannot be contained!

After a very long day, I get to end it with my favorite band:

The Chariot- 12:00pm – Encore Stage: Of course, I’ll have to leave Sleeping Giant early…but it will be worth every second. The Chariot always puts on an insane show. You never know what craziness they are going to bring to the stage

Thursday: This day is going to be an eclectic mix of music

John Reuben – 3:15pm – Main Stage:Just about the only chance for Hip-Hop at Cornerstone this year.

Brooke Waggoner – 4:15pm – Gallery Stage: I’ve never seen her live, but I’ve been listening to her for over a year now. It’s going to be amazing I just know it!

Hands – 7:30pm – Underground Stage: I have been waiting to see this band for a while now. Since they never come to Austin, I definitely will be at this show!

Dignan- 6:00pm – Gallery Stage:I haven’t seen this band live yet, but I look forward to hearing this progressive indie rock band

Paper Route- 7:15pm – Gallery Stage: An atmospheric rock band out of Nashville, Tennessee. If they are half as good live as their CD’s are, then this should be a real treat

Children 18:3- 9:00pm – Underground Stage: An awesome family punk band from Minnesota. These guys are the next big thing in Christian punk rock right now!

Eisley – 10:00pm – Gallery Stage: I have been listening to these guys since their beginning. It’s been a while and I am very excited to see them again.

White Collar Sideshow-12:00am – Underground Stage: Here is another show that has an unbelievable power to change you. This is an amazing theatrical band that will move you. Besides, these are some of the coolest people you will see at Cornerstone.

Saturday: The last day and there is still so much to see!

The Glorious Unseen - 12:15am – Main Stage:I know this was on Friday too, but if 9:00 am was too early before than be sure and catch these guys at this show.

O’Brother – 6:00pm – Gallery Stage: I have never seen this band before, but everyone says I have too. I’m game!

August Burns Red – 7:00pm – Main Stage:This band rocked last time I saw them on Main Stage at Cornerstone. They never cease to amaze me.

Ivoryline – 8:35pm – Gallery Stage: A post-hardcore band from Tyler, Texas. I have seen these guys play so many times and they are always great!

Seabird- 10:00pm – Gallery Stage: An atmospheric rock band from Ohio. The perfect way to end Cornerstone 2010.

So in about 3 weeks, The ONE21 is headed out to Cornerstone Festival 2010. There are hundreds of bands and performers sweating it out from around 11AM to close to 2 in the morning every day. It can be very overwhelming to to take in everything that Cornerstone has to offer, and the sad fact is that you are almost guaranteed to miss a lot.

Well, we are here to help!

With the help of a nifty new website called www.cstoneschedule.com, the four of us attending have been able to begin planning out our Cornerstone experience. Below, I am going to list a few highlights from every day of the festival. Hopefully this will help you plan your week out a little better if you are attending.

Check out my full schedule, and maybe come say hi. I will be the guy with the giant red beard and shaved head. Its kinda hard to miss me. I will have free stickers and buttons for ya!

MONDAY:typically a slow day, but there are a ton of generator shows going on, and you can get very up close and personal with the performers. Also be on the lookout for “surprise” shows. I saw Blindside play a show on the lawn back in 2003. Keep your eyes open!Love Begotten 3:00PM- Raging Storm/Sancrosanct Stage: the band puts on a wild stage show and seemlessly blend it with a heavy dose of profound ministry. They were also one of our “Voices Of the Underground”

A Hope For Home 7:30PM- Solace Stage: These guys are one of the more promising bands to come out of the post-hardcore/rock scene in the last few years. They were also one of our “Voices Of The Underground”.

Take It Back! 10:30PM- Solace Stage- This will be my first time seeing the posi-hardcore band that have been blasting through my speakers all year. If you want to see earnest punk/hardcore, you need to be at this show!

Tuesday: The unofficial 1st day of the fest. In past years, Tooth & Nail have run this particular day, but the economy has forced the label to step back. Once again, this may seem like a slow day, but there is still alot going onFire From The Gods/Let The Dead 12:00PM/12:45PM- Legacy Stage: These two bands are actually friends of mine from right here in Austin, Texas. Come a behold the next great Texas metal/hardcore superstars!

The Ember Days 9:00 PM- Solace Stage: I am really excited to get to experience the progressive worship of The Ember Days. The band recently relocated to the States from New Zealand, and are working on some new material which hopefully will make it into their set at Cornerstone. They were also one of our “Voices Of The Underground”

Flatfoot 56 10:00PM- Legacy Stage: While everybody else is at Switchfoot on the main stage, I will be getting a rowdy dose of celtic punk with the legendary Flatfoot 56. Once again, this will be the first time seeing these guys despite the fact that I have been a fan for a very long time!

Wednesday: This will be the first official day of Cornerstone Festival 2010, with all the seminars, Bible studies, and events beginning along with the music and the Main stage running all day. The festival gets kind of….crazy from here on out. This will be one of my longest daysSo Long Forgotten 12:45- Solace Stage: I have heard that So Long Forgotten‘s live shows are nothing short of amazing, so this will be an amazing way to start my day off. The band’s latest album, The Things We Can See and The Things We Cannot was on our best of the year list from 2009.

Bradley Hathaway3:15PM- Main Stage: If you dont see Mr. Hathaway at Cornerstone, you havent truely done Cornerstone right. Nuff said! Bradley also had one of our best albums form 2009.

Levi The Poet 4:00PM-Solace Stage: Levi The Poet is a gifted spoken word artist who’s performances range from quiet recital to wild thrashings as he covers everything from the love of God, self doubt, and pornography addiction. Also, I will finally be able to pick up his CD!

Listener 6:00PM- Jesus Village: THIS IS ONE OF MY MUST SEES! I promise you that this will be one of the best live shows you have ever seen!

mewithoutYou 7:00PM- Main Stage: Once again, if you dont see mewithoutYou at Cornerstone Festival, you havent done Cornerstone right. Nuff said…..again. Once again, the band’s latest CD was one of the best from 2009.

Sleeping Giant 10:50PM- Underground Stage: This “hardcore” band is known to create an atmosphere of worship that most churches miss by miles. People have given their lives to Christ, been healed, and rebuked demons at these guys shows. At clubs. This is Cornerstone! Of course there will be moshing too, but thats how Sleeping Giant does it! Did I forget to mention that this is a 2 hour show? Well, it is…..

The Chariot12AM- Encore Stage: If you happen to leave Sleeping Giant early, or are able to still walk afterwards, go catch the last 30 or minutes of The Chariot. Their live show is nothing short of insane! they also had one of our best albums from 2009 along with being one of our “Voices of The Underground”

Thursday Day two of the festival in full swing slows things down a little for me, but Thursday is possiably my most diverse day.John Reuben 3:15PM- Main Stage: Regrettably, there isn’t a whole lot of hip-hop at Cornerstone this year, so I am going to be sure and not miss one of my all time favorites. Hey John, if you happen to read this, play “Doin’”, I will lose my mind over that song!

Brooke Waggoner 4:15PM- Gallery Stage: THIS IS A MUST SEE! We met Brooke Waggoner in 2009 at SXSW, and her live show made me a life long fan. If anything, you need to see this girl play piano, it will blow you away. She was also featured in the original series of “Voices of The Underground”.

Hands 7:30PM- Underground Stage: i have already told the entire staff that Hands is the band I am most excited to see this year. They combine prog metal with worship music, and they never come around Austin. This will most likely be the highlight of my week. They also had one of our best albums from 2009.

The Farewell Drifters 8:35PM- Gallery Stage: Sue me, I love folk/bluegrass music. The Farewell Drifters are one of the better bands today doing it. Therefore, I will be there.

For Today10:35- Underground Stage: Like Sleeping Giant the night before, For Today bring a worshipful experience that just happens to be in the for of metal/hardcore. These guys speak truth, and this is one of those shows that can really have an impact.

FridayBy this point most of yall will be getting tired, but dont snooze just yet because some great stuff is yet to be seen.Timbre 2:05PM- Gallery Stage: What a great way to get things going with some soothing progressive harp music. Yep, I said harp….

Dignan 6:00PM- Gallery Stage: Once again, we met Dignan at SXSW in 2009 and were intimidately taken away with their dark , progressive indie rock. Haven’t had a chance to catch them again, so this will be a treat for sure. They also released one of our best albums from 2009.

Paper Route 7:15PM- Gallery Stage: Would you like a little electronic dance music with your rock? Of course you would. They also had one of our best albums from 2009.

Children 18:39:00PM- Underground Stage: This is possibly the best pop-punk band in the music scene today. we saw them at Red letter Rock Fest last year, and I am not going to miss this show.

Eisley 10:00PM- Gallery Stage: Ironically, the last time Chuck and I saw Eisley (known as Moss Eisley then) was the FIRST time we attended Cornerstone Fest in 2002. Some of the members were in their early teens, and they apologized after every song. Most of them are married now, and we have fallen in love with their music over and over again since. This will be a great reunion.

White Collar Sideshow 12AM- Underground Stage: I will end my day with a performance that has the ability to cut to the core of any person struggling with themselves. Besides the fact that the members of White Collar Sideshow are some of the coolest people ever, but their show will make you take a deep look within, and let change fill you up.

Saturday Last day, keep your head up, you are almost there.
Starting at about 1PM, The Legacy Stage is going to have a mini Hip-Hop showcase featuring some amazing talent including Odd Thomas, Propoganda, and Theory Hazit. If you are a fan of Hip-Hop, this would be a great place to hang out on Saturday.

O’Brother 6:00PM- Gallery Stage: I saw these guys with Manchester Orchestra, and I don’t think I’m stretching too much to say that they blew the crowd away. They are the heaviest indie rock band I have ever hear, and I am ready for round two.

August Burns Red 7:00PM- Main Stage: ABR is kind of another one of those bands that if you haven’t seen them at Cornerstone, then you haven’t really seen them. It is not too much to say that they owned Cornerstone 07 like nobodies business.

Seabird10:00PM- Gallery Stage: My Cornerstone experience will end with the power pop/rock of Seabird. I saw them at SXSW, and now that I know their music a little better I know this will be the perfect closer to my week.

Thats about it, but certainly not my entire plan for the week. Go check my full schedule to see all the other shows I am going to try and hit. See you there!

Headlines

The amazing indie folk band known as The Snake, The Cross, The Crown posted plans to release a documentary chronicling the recording of their last album and the tour that soon followed it. Cool stuff…

Dear Future is now a trio after the departure of two of their core members following their recent tour with The Rocketboys.

Hardcore band Alcina has once again become label homeless, after parting ways with Real Hope Records. This also means that their latest album, which was slated for a October, 2009 release date, will now be delayed…

Videos

Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for Take It Back!‘s upcoming November 10th, 2009 release entitled Atrocities.
01. The Beginning. Nothing.
02. New Empires
03. Lost Generation
04. Hollow Eyes
05. A Reason to Scream
06. What We’re Fighting For
07. Minneapolis
08. The Skies Are Empty
09. The Prodigal Soldier
10. The End of Apathy

Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for Dear Future, Come And Get Me by The Fold, which will hit stores October 6th, 2009.
1. File Under: Ground (Take Me In)
2. Hold On
3. Red Wine
4. Dear Future
5. Midnight
6. Seventy Five Outgoing Calls
7. Head Held High
8. Sink Or Swim
9. I Know Where I’m Going
10. These Are My Dreams
11. Neverender

Jeremy Camp and his wife, Adrienne (Adie) recently informed fans that they lost their unborn child in a miscarriage. Adie was three months pregnant. Please pray for their family in this time of sadness.

Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for Relient K‘s upcoming release Forget And Not Slow Down, which will hit stores Oct.6th, 2009.
1 Forget and Not Slow Down
2 I Don’t Need A Soul
3 Candlelight
5 Part Of It
7 Therapy
8 Over It
9 Sahara
11 Savannah
13 If You Believe Me
14 This Is The End
15 (If You Want It)

Despite a great fan base and positive critic response, Tooth & Nail Records rock band Capital Lights have called it quits so virtually all the members can go to school. Getting tired of having this kind of news every week….

Below is the new music video from Belle Epoque with their song “Keeping The Innocent”.

Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for B.Reith‘s upcoming Sept. 22nd, 2009 release, Now Is Not Forever.
1. Intro (Excuse Me Everybody)
2. The Comeback Kid
3. I Know
4. Mess
5. Antidote
6. My Story
7. U Should Know
8. Wish That
9. Old School
10. Rain Down
11. Just For You
12. Breathe

There are strong rumors floating around that not only is The Juliana Theory thinking of reforming, but post hardcore legends Further Seems Forever might be reforming with orginal vocalist, now Dashboard Confessional frontman, Chris Carrabba. There, I said it, but I don’t know anything else about either band. Rumors, rumors…..

Mae has signed with Cell Records, and will begin releasing their trilogy of EPs (starting with (m)orning) in September of 2009.

A Hope For Home has parted ways with their drummer, Ian, and will be looking for a replacement as they begin to write a new album.

Below is the album artwork and tracklisting for Inhale/Exhale‘s upcoming Oct.6th, 2009 release, Bury Me Alive.
01. Rooms
02. Did You Ever Have a Touch to Lose?
03. Condemned
04. Over and Out
05. A Dark Place for Your Mind to Be
06. Intentions
07. Explosions
08. Fiction
09. Better Her Than Me
10. Thin Black Lines
11. An Era

Hello to all the amazing people who read our site, we love you. Really, your participation in this website makes everything worth it. Every time you visit, it counts as only good stuff for us as a group. So, thank you….

If you will remember, a few months back, we announced that we were going to tone things down a little bit on the site. At the time, we were putting up three posts a day, beginning to build our artist database, and trying to manage our emerging “ezine” persona. In all honesty, we never intended to use The One21 as a magazine-type website. Our original idea for this blog was to simply communicate our passion and try to begin to introduce the world to a larger perspective of “Christian music”in modern culture.

Well, God, as He always does, has His own plans for things, and seven months in to our existence we were doing interviews, reporting on news, and in general acting like more of a magazine.

However, the true intention of this site, The One21 Music, was to build a tool that could fully introduce the people to the vast body of music made by believers. So, in May, we officially began to build our artists database. We started strong, found out we weren’t doing it right, started over, added a few features, went back and added those features to the existing profiles, went back and edited, and then once again began to add new artists, and here we are.

Confused? Dont worry, all of that was my long way of saying that we are now 260 artists strong in our database, and every week we are adding on average 6-10 new entries. The profiles span over 10 genres, 3 categories, and over 120 styles (sub-genres). We are doing our best to make sure that any fan, of any type of music will have a place on this website. You can go see our progress by clicking on the “Artist Search” tab up at the top of this page, or you can click here.
Also, if there is particular artist you want to check out, you can get to them quickly by typing in www.one21music.com/(artist name) into the address bar on your browser (so an example would be www.one21music.com/owl city). If you dont get anything, it most likely means we have not gotten that particular artist into the system yet, but don’t fret because we are working on it.

Alright, with so much going on, Chuck and I thought it would be a good idea to start giving you guys weekly rundowns on what is happening here on the site. So at the end of the week, we will recap what we have been writing about on the blog, in the database, and what is happening in our company. Our hope is that not only will you stay up to date to what is happening on the blog, and what new artists you may want to check out, but also that you would get to know us as people and as a company. So, here we go, this our first real update so I hope you enjoy:

General Site Updates:

-First of all, you may notice that we have a new banner. The old one was cool and everything, but as we turn the corner on this website, we wanted to go with something a bit “cleaner” looking. Plus, I (Ian) was really tired of looking at myself every time I looked at the site (yes, if you remember the guy in the banner, that was a big ‘ol profile of me, myself, and I).

-We launched our “Album Release” page this week. this page contains dates, titles, and album artwork(when available) for all the upcoming CDs from Christian artists. It will be updated often, and in future “update” posts I will keep you up to date on what we have added to the page. Go check out all the upcoming releases here.

-We got rid of our “Music Artists” and “Christian Labels” tabs. With the database, we don’t need the “Artist” tab, although you may see a newer, more accessible version of it pop up in the near future. All the information from the “Christian Labels” can now be found in our “Links” page. You can click on the “Links” tab at the top of the page or just click here

Also, this weekend we will be holding a meeting to try and figure out a possible One21 Fest here in Austin, Texas. If you are reading this and have some ideas, please speak up. Until next week, God bless, and have a great weekend.

Not to long after we began this website, we launched a series called Voices Of The Underground. It was born out of the fact I kept wanting to ask the same questions every time we did an interview, and because there were some ideas and concepts that seemed like they could be explored by any musician, no matter what genre of music they made or level of success they had achieved.

Instead of repeating ourselves over and over again, we instead sent 15 questions to literally hundreds of bands, solo artists, and producers to see if we could get a response. What we got was unexpected, and over the course of 15 weeks, we heard opinions from over 30 artists on issues of faith, the music industry, and being an artist in this day and age. Brooke Waggoner, hip-hop artist Dirt, Dominic Balli, and Chris Taylor along with members of Corpus Christi, Inhale/Exhale, Run Kid Run, Take It Back!, and many others participated in this round table like discussion.

Two months ago it ended. We had used up all of our questions, and we said goodbye to Voices Of The Underground. However, since the series went so well, and we got such an amazing response (part two of last “season” is one of our most viewed posts), we decided to revamp the series and present to you a brand new Voices of The Underground.

New look, new artists, and a few new questions (although some old favorites will return this season).

So here is how its going to go, every week we will post responses to one question (there are 15 in all). Some of the questions will give you a lot of incite into your favorites musician’s hearts, and some will (hopefully) challenge your perception on certain issues. The goal of this is to try and present as wide of a variation of opinions as possiable, so I am sure there will be a few answers that you will not agree with.

The beauty of this series is that it does not end with the artist’s responses, you can be as much a part of Voices Of The Underground as they are. Make comments, start discussions, and leave your mark. We want to hear what you have to say.

Now, for the moment you have all been waiting for, here is look at some of the line-up for Voices of The Underground2:A Hope For HomeGileah And The Ghost TrainBodies of WaterRedemptionWhite Collar SideshowDignanThe ChariotPreson PhillipsThe Glorious UnseenYours For MineVeniaLove BegottenMyChildren MyBrideWonderThousand Foot Krutch
and there will be many more to come, so stay tuned
join us next week (Thursday) when we begin our series by asking our artists what they love about music.

Special treat for you guys today. My buddies over at Indie Vision Music have put together another MONSTER of a free compilation. This one comes in 3 parts, each with 17 tracks on them! That’s right, that would be over 50 songs for free! Here is how it will work, click on each of the links below, save the .ZIP files to your computer, EXTRACT ALL FILES, and get ready for a long ride of free music!!